Operationalising the concept of policy space in the UNCTAD XI mid-term review context

This South Centre Analysis provides a brief overview of the concept of policy space for development and suggests ways how, in the context of the UNCTAD XI Mid-Term Review process, UNCTAD can make this concept operational through its policy analysis and recommendations to developing countries.

The report argues that the concept of policy space, i.e. the notion that countries should have the freedom and the flexibility to select the development policies that best fit their own national conditions, taking into account those international commitments and disciplines that they have already agreed to, is deeply embedded in UNCTAD’s institutional mandate, and must therefore be made operational. This is neither new nor an addition to UNCTAD’s existing mandates.

The paper recommend UNCTAD to :

• help in the analysis and identification of appropriate industrial development and growth policies for developing countries, taking into account and reflective of their specific circumstances and national development priorities and objectives
• identify policy options at the global and national levels to ensure that trade and financial liberalisation are supportive of sustainable development
• promote policies to maximise and expand on existing flexibilities in trade and financial rules in order to promote and strengthen South-South cooperation and regional integration
• analyse and clarify the concept of policy space for development, especially in the context of what policies would be required to eradicate poverty, promote development, and maximise the flexibilities that may exist in current international agreements, commitments and disciplines
• provide analysis and recommendations for the operationalisation of this concept in the implementation processes of internationally-agreed development objectives as embodied in the UNFfD, WSSD, and MDG processes.